He already lost his majority, but seeing how often Berlusconi has come in and out of power, don't think that he's gone from politics forever. The Guardian:
Silvio Berlusconi has pledged to resign as Italy's prime minister in a long-delayed move that doomed his third government and appeared to foreshadow the end of the media tycoon's eventful and frequently scandalous 17-year career in politics.
But opposition leaders were swift to warn that Berlusconi could be plotting to re-emerge. "[He] has not disappeared. He has resigned," said Pierluigi Bersani, leader of Italy's biggest opposition group, the Democratic party (PD). Antonio Di Pietro, of the Italy of Principles party, claimed Berlusconi was "taking another month to try to buy a few [parliamentarians]".
The PD called for the head of state, President Giorgio Napolitano, to use his constitutional powers to set up a transitional government. But Berlusconi told one of his three television channels: "It is absolutely unthinkable in a democracy for the parties that lost the election to assume governmental responsibilities."
